Display device



H. KONIKOFF April 12, 1949.

DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Nov. 20, 1945 INVEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 12, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE' DISPLAY DEVICE Harry Konikoif, New York, N. Y.

Application November 20, 1945, Serial No. 529,734

This invention relates to an improved display device for use in displaying articles in store windows, counters, and the like, the invention having particular reference to a device for supporting shoes, slippers, and other articles of footwear in a manner to best display the important features of the same.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a shoe-supporting stand of the character described, in which a shoe, slipper or the like is securely grasped and held by a spring clamping means so mounted that the shoe may be held in any selected angle to allow its structural or design features to be readily observed by the prospective customer. Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe support which has its shoeengaging means self-adjustable so that such means will not only firmly grip the shoe to best support it in any one of a number of positions, but will adapt itself to shoes of various sizes and designs within the range of the clamping means provided as a part of the device. Still another object of the invention is to provide a shoesupporting device operative to grip and hold one or more shoes in any selected position on the shoe or shoes, and also arranged to be held at any angle whereby the features of the shoe or shoes so held can be readily observed.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a supporting base or plate on which a pair of arms is pivotally secured, the free ends of said arms being resiliently urged toward one another by spring pressure, said arms having rotatably-mounted clamping jaws to engage and resiliently grip a portion of a shoe between them, the supporting base or plate being mounted for universal movement whereby the device and the shoe supported thereby may be held at a selected angle.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the display device, showing how the same may be employed to grip and support a shoe at the arch of the shoe;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the device, as viewed from the left end of Fig. 1, and with the clamp of the ball-and-socket joint omitted; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The improved device is arranged to be supported at any selected angle, and for this purpose is provided a ball-and-socket joint including a spherical member or ball I adapted to be 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-37) held by a pair of jaws 2 and 3 in which it can stifily or frictionally move, the pressure on the ball by the jaws 2 and 3 being regulated by the screw 4 which can be tightened, as required, to either hold the ball I against movement or to allow it to be shifted, as required, to position the device, and the shoe held thereby, at any selected angle. Secured between the jaws 2 and 3 is a block 5 which is internally threaded to receive the screw threads provided on a post or standard 6 of a suitable display fixture.

Extending radially from the ball I, and preferably formed integrally therewith, is a stem 1 which is rigidly secured to a, cross head or base plate 8 constituting the base member of the shoeclamping means. Pivotally secured to the under side of the plate 8 adjacent to one end thereof, and on the pin I0, is an arm II provided at its opposite end with a clamping jaw I5, rotatably secured to the upper face of the arm II by the pivot pin I4.

At the opposite end of the plate 8 is pivotally secured an arm I3 similar to that shown at II, the arm l3 being pivoted on the pin I2 and having a clamping jaw I'I pivoted at its other end by the pivot pin I4. The free ends of the two arms II and I3 are normally urged toward one another by spring means, more clearly seen in Fig. 4, wherein it will be noted that said spring means consists of a wire spring I8 having a part extending between the two pins I0 and I2. Said spring is coiled around the pin I0, as indicated at I9, and it has a leg 20 extending under the arm II, said leg 20 of the spring engaging against a pin 2| extending downwardly from the arm I I. Similarly, the spring I8 has a part coiled around the pin I2, as indicated at 25, from whence the spring extends in the form of a second leg, indicated at 22, to engage against a downwardly-extending pin 23 on the arm I3.

The disposition of the two legs 20 and 22 of the spring I8 is such that the legs are normally urged toward one another, and the engagement of these legs 20 and 22 with the pins 2| and 23 on arms I I and I3, respectively, is such that they tend to urge the free ends of the arms toward one another, or to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The pivotal movement of the two arms I I and I3 toward one another may be limited by the contact of the end portions of said arms with one another or by the ends of the downwardly-extending lip or flange 24 provided along one edge of the plate 9 between the two arms II and I3.

From the foregoing, the mode of operation of the display device will be readily understood. The

two clamping arms I l and [3 may be spread apart to the desired extent, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, against the pressure of the spring 18 to enable any desired portion of the shoe to be inserted between them, whereupon the spring I8 will cause the arms to embrace the shoe and securely hold it between the two clamping jaws l5.and l1. Since the clamping jaws l and I! are rotatively mounted on the arms H and 13, the jaws may be positioned at any desired angle with respect to one another to enable them to firmly grip any selected portion of the shoe. For example, in Fig. 1 the arch portion of a shoe is shown as gripped between the jaws l5 and 11-. The sole, heel or other portion of a shoe can also be firmly held by the arrangement of the clamping jaws, the spring l8 acting. to bring the arms I l and 13 toward one another for the required extent to enable the shoe to be firmly held by the jaws. Since the ball-and-socket mounting of the device permits of its angular disposition, it will be obvious that a shoe gripped and held by the device can be arranged at any selected angle to best display its structural or design features.

While I have described a shoe display device for holding a single shoe, it will be clear that by the utilization of the structure herein described in duplicate, a device for holding and displaying a pair or even a greater number of shoes will result. That is to say, by merely attaching' two or more pairs of the arms H and I3 and associated parts to a single plate or base in suitably spaced relation, a support for a number of shoes will be had.

What I claim is:

1. In a shoe display device of the character described, an elongated plate member, a stem extending from the under side of said plate, a ball on said stem, a clamp engaging the ball and frictionally holding the same to enable the plate to be supported at a desired angle relative to a horizontal plane, a pair of pivot pins extending downwardly from the under side of the plate, the stem being located between the pins, an arm pivotally mounted on each pin, a clamping jaw rotatably secured on top of each arm at the end of the arm remote from its point of pivotal attachment to the plate, and a spring engaging the arms and tending to force the ends of said arms on which the clamping jaws are pivoted, toward one another, said spring being located below the plate and the arms and having parts in engagement with the pivot pins.

2. In a shoe display device of the character described, a pair of clamping arms between which a portion of a shoe is adapted to be embraced, a plate extending between the arms to which one end of each arm is pivotally attached, and a generally U shaped spring attached at one side of the plate to the pivots for said arms, said spring having a pair of leg portions normally urged toward one another, and pins on the arms with which the end of each of the spring legs engages to thereby urge the free ends of the clamping arms toward one another to cause the portion of the shoe to be resiliently embraced between them.

HARRY KONIKOFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 180,881 Howson Aug. 8, 1876 490,915 Melzer Jan. 31, 1893 1,158,361 Beck Oct. 26, 1915 

